


The Ferris Wheel

by Nadja_Lee



Series: Let's Talk About Alec [6]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Abused Alec Lightwood, Abusive Parents, Alec Lightwood Protection Squad, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Corporal Punishment, Good Parabatai Jace Wayland, Love, M/M, Overprotective Jace Wayland, Parabatai Feels, Powerful Magnus Bane, Prince of Hell Magnus Bane, Protective Isabelle Lightwood, Protective Jace Wayland, Protective Magnus Bane, Protective Siblings, Regime Change, Revenge, Sacrifice, Self-Sacrificing Alec Lightwood, Whipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:13:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23599657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nadja_Lee/pseuds/Nadja_Lee
Summary: Alec offer to take Jace’s punishment. Jace and Izzy fight to accept this while Magnus fight to make it back in time to prevent it. Finally, Izzy, Jace and Magnus plot horrible revenge together against the people who hurt Alec, including his parents!
Relationships: Alec Lightwood & Jace Wayland, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: Let's Talk About Alec [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1606735
Comments: 55
Kudos: 1013





	The Ferris Wheel

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much to my amazing beta readers as always; Monochromatize and Cindy.  
> Chapter warnings: Alec's whipping is detailed to some extent though we don't see it through his eyes.  
> Also, since some readers seem confused with the punishments in this series here is a quick history lesson:  
> A cat o' nine tails: A whip with nine leather strips with metal balls at the end to maximize the pain it can inflict.  
> It was used back in the day mainly for military punishments and that is why I am using it for the Clave as Idris is a military society.  
> A caning in this series is a milder punishment, done with a thin stick. Hurts like hell but less severe than a whipping and in particular a whipping with a cat o' nine tails. Saltwater when poured over the open wounds after a whipping will hurt like Hell and was also included in some military punishments back in the day for precisely this reason.  
> Also, Izzy, Jace and Magnus plan revenge and talk about killing people and having no issues with that to avenge Alec.  
> A few people have also asked me about the titles for fics in this series. The titles of all the stories in this series are metaphors and are chosen with that in mind.

_**Please read the chapter notes for warnings! There is a detailed whipping scene in this story** _

Thanks so much to Regina Danica Villa Bibit for the amazing series banner.  


# The Ferris Wheel

The Clave had wasted no time. When they had heard Jace was back and hiding out at the High Warlock’s residence they had demanded he be handed over. Magnus had refused and diplomatic negotiations had started but things had quickly escalated. The Accords were clear on this; Magnus was not allowed to protect him and continuing to do so would lead to war. After a few days of this Magnus had finally gotten a lead on the Herondale necklace and had went to deal with that situation to try and end this whole thing once and for all, leaving Alec and Jace at his loft. That was two days ago. When news spread that the High Warlock was out of town and couldn’t be reached, Idris pursued matters even further.

Jace had spent most of the days leading up to Magnus leaving apologizing to Alec in a thousand different ways, thanking him and occasionally being upset and frustrated over the sacrifices he had made for him. Jace had tried to care for Alec in any way he could, even attempting a very unsuccessful cooking disaster, but Alec was difficult to care for, always there to help and protect others. Magnus seemed to be better able to get Alec to lower his shields and let him care for him than anyone else.

During the two days Magnus had been away Jace had hovered around Alec like an overprotective mother hen but Alec had been firm. He had insisted Jace stayed at the loft as otherwise what was the point? So Jace stayed safe at the loft while Alec went to work at the Institute as always. Alec had promised him he would not do anything rash or foolish like offer himself up to the Clave. However, Jace should have known he was lying for Alec would do anything to protect his family; lying was really low on the list of wrong doings Alec was willing to do for those he loved.

Yesterday Alec had been presented with two documents by the Clave; one that declared war on the Warlock community over Magnus’ continued protection of Jace in his loft and another for the arrest and trial of Jace. Refusing to be cornered Alec played his trump card and introduced a third option; he would take punishment in Jace’s stead on the condition Jace was cleared of all wrong-doing. It was a time-honored practice and the Clave was forced to accept such an offer when given; Alec’s offer was helped along by a very eager Imogen who was more than happy to sacrifice the Lightwood boy who had already defied two of the most taboo topics in Nephilim history: Homosexuality and intimate and lasting relationships with Downworlders.

Jace had been pissed at Alec to put it mildly when he had told him that evening that he had made the offer. Jace had tried to counter the offer with the Clave but it had been too late: when first the offer had been made and accepted, it couldn’t be changed. As the punishment would be carried out the following day, Jace had had to quickly let go of his anger at Alec and instead voice his concern and love so he could be there to support him through it. Izzy had stuck to the being pissed off for a lot longer though but had also in the end expressed her worry and love for her brother – and her desire to murder the whole Clave if given half the chance; a sentiment shared by Jace!

Until the last moment, they had all hoped Magnus would return with the evidence Imogen had demanded regarding Jace’s parentage. However, no such luck and he had been unreachable through all communication means, magical or otherwise – likely getting the evidence from Valentine wasn’t easy and Alec, Jace and Izzy just hoped Magnus wasn’t in trouble and in need of saving himself as they had no clue where he was.

Therefore here they were, on the large open square in the middle of Alicante, gathered to witness the punishment carried out. Alec, topless, was bound with his arms above his head to a large stone pillar with metal chairs on a small podium, keeping him upright through his punishment. There was a crowd gathered around the podium, showing more excitement and glee than what was seemly. The large and strongly built man carrying out the punishment wore a glamour as was customary so no one could recognize him.

Thirty lashes had been the verdict, with a cat o' nine tails, and Imogen had assured Jace this was mild; the Clave had wanted 200 lashes, divided over two days. She had pulled all favors in for this.

Jace had begged her to at least make it a caning instead of a whipping; Jace knew from what Alec had told him these last few days that the Lightwoods had punished him with canings before. Jace himself had tried it a few times from Valentine. It was a not unusual type of punishment by Shadowhunter parents for severe offences. It wasn’t pleasant by a long shot but it was much less painful and the result less severe than a whipping. When she had claimed this was impossible Jace had tried to at least have them use a different instrument for the whipping but also here they had been unmoving. Imogen had explained that if the punishment had to be ‘small’ enough to fit into one day they wanted their pound of flesh. With the cat o' nine tails they would certainly get it, almost literally, as the metal balls attached to the ends of each of the nine leather straps of the whip were designed specifically to inflect maximum damage on the flesh and tear into it, slashing and pulling as much as possible. For added effect, when punishment was carried out with a cat o' nine tails the whip would be dipped in saltwater after each 10 hit, meaning it would happen three times during Alec’s punishment. The saltwater would maximize the pain of the inflected wounds. It was considered a mercy the whip was only dipped into the saltwater and used; fifty years ago the water would be thrown onto the back of the person being punished. It was among Idris’ hardliners considered a shame that the punishment had become so ‘soft’ and some still wished everything back to the ‘good old days’.

Of the Lightwoods only Izzy and Jace had come to see the punishment; Max was too young and their parents had decided not to show up, finding the whole thing embarrassing which Izzy and Jace were both angry and thankful for because their presence would likely just have rattled Alec and made the whole ordeal even harder for him to carry. Jace was forced by law to attend as he was the one Alec was taking the punishment for. Izzy had shown up to support both her brothers. She had been horrified, a few days ago, when she had learned from Jace what Alec had been doing for them both all these years, how he had taken punishment for them, calling upon the right of the oldest to do so. She couldn’t stop this from happening even though she had tried and had called upon everyone she knew in Idris a few threats might also have been exchanged. However, nothing had helped. The decision had been made and was unchanging. The least she could do was try and give Alec some courage with her presence.

At first Jace had thought he could watch this. Alec had taken the first hit of the whip stoically, his body reacting to the hit, a line of blood appearing on his back, but he didn’t cry out and he strengthened himself after the hit, breathing heavily. When the whip touched him after ten hits with the added saltwater he had screamed out loud in agony for the first time, the touch like liquid fire. He was leaning heavily on the chains that bound his hands above his head and ensured his body was tense and stretched out, breathing hard, sweating, and small sounds of pain were escaping his lips. His wrists were torn and bleeding from the strain as his body was now almost hanging from the chains as he fought to try and stand to relieve the strain on his arms if he didn’t. His back was now crisscrossed with bloody red welts and blood had started to run down his pants. At sixteen hits, Alec started screaming in pain every time the whip hit him, the man carrying out the punishment having used his runes to enhance the power of the hits. When Alec tasted the saltwater for the second time he screamed and could no longer stop screaming whenever the whip touched his raw, torn and abused flesh. By the twenty-fifth hit Alec’s eyes were glazed and he was whimpering pitifully even between hits and was trying weakly to move his body away from the whip. No longer fully conscious, the agony too great, Alec’s hold over the parabatai bond also slipped and Alec’s pain started to trickle over to Jace little by little, washing over him in waves, making it hard for Jace to focus, to concentrate on anything else than his parabatai’s pain.

“That’s it! I’m stopping this,” Jace snared angrily to Izzy, his eyes lighting up golden as he activated his angelic powers and his runes all started to glow.

At least that was one good thing that came from all of this. Valentine had claimed he had had demon blood and could do amazing things due to that. On Clary’s encouragement he had had his blood tested instead of blindly believing Valentine’s words and had discovered they both had pure angel blood instead, giving them amazing abilities. Knowing now he was also not Clary’s brother it was high on Jace’s priority list to try and win Clary back – when everything had settled down of course. Alec was his number one priority right now and would remain so for a while. He owed him that at the very least after how he had acted when Clary had first entered the scene.

“Don’t,” Izzy hissed at him, using both hands on his nearest bicep to stop him.

Jace looked at her angrily but some of the anger disappeared when he saw the frozen tears in her eyes and the pain in every line of her face.

“You would doom us all; we would all be deruned. He wouldn’t want that,” Izzy reminded him in a quiet but firm voice, her eyes pleading.

Jace looked at her and then at Alec and winced as the echoed pain hit him when Alec took another hit.

“I don’t care,” Jace proclaimed, trying to shake off her hands.

“He will care. Stop it, Jace!” Izzy insisted, more strongly now, pained by having to prevent him from doing what she herself also wanted to do.

A flash of pain crossed Jace’s face and he put a hand on his parabatai rune.

“You don’t get it, Izzy. I can feel him,” Jace said agonized, looking back up at Alec.

Izzy nodded grimly, imagining this was precisely why the Clave had chosen this punishment; so that despite Jace going free he was not spared this.

“I know,” she said softly, her eyes showing her sympathy and concern.

Jace shook his head in frustration and pain.

“You don’t know! The Agony Rune is by default made so parabatai don’t feel it when it’s used. It was made for punishment. This…I can’t do this!” Jace protested, fighting to even remain standing when another echoed hit from the whip reached him.

“You told me you have felt pain from him before,” Izzy reminded him.

“A belt or a crop but nothing like this and that was years ago; when we were younger and Alec didn’t have full control over the bond yet and could shut me out. I had just gotten away from Valentine at that time; I expected nothing less than for the Lightwoods to hand out punishments. I was only surprised they always seemed to praise me so much,” Jace admitted, grimacing at how ignorant he had been at thinking things had been different.

“You are the best warrior,” Izzy said matter of fact, knowing this to be true and knowing it to be a source of great pride for her parents as well as all of Idris – likely also why Jace’s perceived defection to Valentine had prompted such harsh reactions from the Clave when their golden boy had gone AWOL.

“And now we know Alec took the punishments for me,” Jace said pained, his eyes filled with guilt and shame.

“For us,” Izzy corrected, feeling equal guilt and embarrassment at knowing this, knowing every party, every offence she had done had been paid for with her brother’s blood. “Don’t think I don’t want revenge but we have to be smart about it.”

Jace sighed in frustration, seeing her point even though all he wanted was to get Alec out of there, now.

“Fine. As long as it involves them all dying,” Jace said darkly, eyeing the crowd evilly.

He was catching whispered words like ‘disgrace’, ‘wedding’, ‘fag’…. And it only got worse from there. This punishment just spoke to those self-righteous bastards, didn’t it? How Jace would love to see them all forced to swallow that self-righteous smugness on their crying knees.

“I am thinking something even better,” Izzy said darkly, mentally wincing when Alec took another hit.

Luckily, Alec seemed to almost be delirious at this stage; his screaming had reduced to faint whimpers of agony and while his body shook with each hit, he was too weak to move much. She was grateful for this not only as it spared him pain but he had unconsciously tried to pull at the metal chains in a desperate attempt to get away and as a result his wrists were now bleeding horribly, torn and damaged.

“Like what?” Jace demanded to know, his voice harsh from watching this, unconsciously rubbing his left wrist with his right hand as the phantom pain that shot through him like fire.

“Disgrace. De-rune them,” Izzy said darkly.

“Fuck!” Jace got out, a hand going to his back as the phantom pain hit him hard as he was unprepared, his attention on Izzy so he had missed the guy pulling the whip back for another hit.

If Jace didn’t know better he would have sworn he felt blood running from welts on his back but he knew it was Alec’s sensation and not his own.

“Don’t let Alec see you in pain,” Izzy whispered in his ear.

Izzy nodded towards the crowd gathered around and quite a few were looking at them.

“Don’t let them see it,” Izzy added quietly, making an almost invisible nod to the crowd.

Jace forced himself to stand upright, fighting to make his face look emotionless and dispassionate, giving the crowd a dangerous glance that made everyone look away.

“I know. It’s hard to block when I am watching it too,” he said lowly, fighting to control the phantom pains he was getting from Alec.

Izzy nodded in sympathy before she said, “I know.”

After a second she added in a stronger voice though still kind, “Do it anyway.”

Jace nodded grimly and his eyes found Alec’s. He wasn’t sure his parabtai knew what was going on any longer. His eyes were glazed and unfocused, tears staining his cheeks from the pain but the sweat on Alec’s face made it hard to tell it was tears and Jace bet only he could tell the difference. Alec would be relieved to know that; know that no one would be able to see his tears, see something he would consider a weakness.

Alec was leaning heavily on the chains, straining his bleeding and torn wrists even further, mumbling words of agony. Jace tried to give him an encouraging and supportive look but Alec’s expression didn’t change. Jace bit his cheek until it bled as the pain echoed through him but he showed no outward signs he felt it when the whip fell on Alec again. Alec himself barely seemed to indicate he felt it; his body gave a jerk, a new angry bleeding welt appeared on his naked back, more blood started to run down his already ruined pants but his pained mumbles stayed the same and his eyes didn’t flinch or change.

Finally, after what felt like forever but was likely only around 15 minutes or so the man who had been carrying out the sentence lowered the whip after the 30th hit, adding the last hit with the added saltwater. This did draw a louder pained mumble from Alec but otherwise he didn’t indicate he was aware of it.

The man who had carried out the sentence turned to the Clave representatives and nodded respectfully to Imogen.

“The punishment is complete, High Inquisitor,” the man said, his chest heaving and his voice betraying he felt drained now after using as much force and strength as he could during the punishment.

Imogen nodded to him, “Thank you.” She then turned to the nearby guards and called out to them, “Guards, you can take him away.”

Jace sprang into action at hearing this and used his angelic powers, his eyes lighting up golden, as he did a backwards jump and landed neatly on his feet on the podium. He drew his blade and pointed it straight at the approaching guards while backing up until he was near Alec.

“No one touches him!” Jace insisted dangerously, looking at the guards while activating his strength rune.

Seeing that the guards stayed back, Jace pulled at the metal chain holding Alec’s arms above his head and tore out the pin holding it to the pillar. He winced in echoed pain when Alec’s arms fell to his side and the resulting pain ran through him. Jace caught Alec as he fell and held him up with one arm around his neck, still holding the blade at the guards. Alec was moaning slightly in pain but his eyes were half closed and his head and whole body was hanging and only held up by Jace.

“He is my parabatai and I am taking him. Anyone else touches him and they lose a hand,” Jace warned as he walked towards the edge of the podium.

“Alec!” Izzy yelled worried and jumped on the podium with them and took out her steele to draw healing runes on Alec.

Izzy saw that the metal cuffs still around Alec’s wrists but could be released using an unlocking rune so she quickly drew one on each of them, the cuffs falling to the ground with a loud noise. Alec winced slightly in pain as blood started to circulate through his bleeding and torn wrists.

“This is very unorthodox,” one of the Clave representatives complained to Imogen.

“Let him take him,” Imogen ordered and the guards nodded, putting their weapons away and stepped back.

“Let me just get some iratzes on you,” Izzy said to Alec in case he understood her, concern and worry clear in her voice.

Izzy quickly drew an iratze on Alec’s back and saw the wounds start to close. Some remained open but the bleeding stopped.

Alec stirred as the pain subsided a little.

“Jace,” Alec mumbled weakly when he realized who was carrying him and keeping him up.

“I’m here, brother. I’m here,” Jace calmed him while Izzy drew another iratze on Alec’s back.

“Thank you,” Alec said to Izzy, feeling less pain and a bit stronger now but still unable to make his body function correctly, fighting to try to stand but failing, having to lean heavily on Jace.

“Just never do that again,” Izzy scowled him, hiding her fear with the reprimand as she drew an iratze near each of his torn and bleeding wrists, making the wounds close enough that he could use his hands again without constant agony.

“I am always here for you. From now on I will never leave you, ever, for anyone or anything,” Jace swore, rearranging Alec’s weight to have a firmer grip on him.

“I’m sorry you had to see that,” Alec got out, his voice hoarse from screaming. He looked from Jace to Izzy and back again, his gaze pained and dazed. “Both of you.”

“Shut up, big brother, and let us help you,” Izzy said emotionally, fighting a lump in her throat.

She was about to draw another iratze on him but Alec weakly push her away when he saw Imogen approaching, not wanting to appear weak in front of her. Alec tried to stand up as straight as he could, fighting Jace’s hold so Jace helped him stand up by keeping a firm hand around his waist, his angelic powers making the hold enough but only because he was certain he was leaning marks on Alec’s skin. Jace felt annoyed with Alec for feeling he needed to prove himself and he was annoyed with himself for helping him do it.

“I have had the Warlock make a portal for you to the New York Institute,” Imogen said, nodding towards a Warlock that the Clave has hired to make portals for the day’s event.

People portalled in to see the punishment; wasn’t that special? The very thought left a sour taste in Jace’s mouth and made him wonder if they had ever been on the right side of things. Just how long could Angel blood and killing demons be used to justify cruelty?

“Better make that Magnus’ loft. I wouldn’t want Magnus near any Shadowhunters who are not us when he finds out what happened here. I am not sure even Alec would be able to control him at that moment,” Jace said coldly, making it clear he was not sure he would want Alec to control him at all.

Imogen nodded, clearly trying to give her newly discovered grandchild a good impression of her.

“Very well. Warlock, get them as close to Magnus Bane’ loft as his wards allows,” Imogen ordered, looking at him as she spoke.

The Warlock nodded and started to make a portal.

“You couldn’t have waited till Magnus got back with proof of Jace’s linage?” Izzy asked her darkly, nodding towards Alec.

“I tried,” Imogen insisted.

“Not good enough,” Izzy said coldly.

Imogen ignored her and looked at Alec.

“Alexander,” she started to say.

Alec held her gaze and managed to say, “High Inquisitor.”

“You did well in your punishment. The Clave will not forget your courage in this,” Imogen complimented him.

“Thank you,” Alec said because it was the expected response to the only kindness she could offer him at this time.

“You know what; screw you!” Jace got out through clashed teeth, having enough of this farce.

“Jace!” Alec protested, his voice weak but the warning clear; no more trouble.

“No, Alec,” Jace insisted, his voice kind but firm as he spoke to him.

Jace then turned cold eyes on Imogen and his voice was like ice when he spoke again, “You listen here. You are dead to me in any other form than High Inquisitor. If you ever want that to change then you better do a better job than you did today!”

“A better job of what?” Imogen asked, fighting down her anger but a hint of hurt was in her eyes – hurt and desperation for he was all the family she had left.

“Changing the laws so shit like this won’t happen again,” Jace said frankly.

“It is our ways,” Imogen reminded him.

“Apparently it was also our ways which meant my true linage was never doubted and I over the course of one summer managed to have something like three last names!” Jace reminded her coldly.

“I see your point,” Imogen admitted, wincing in pain at thinking she could have had her grandchild with her sooner.

“Maybe some modernization could be useful,” Imogen conceded.

“Very,” Izzy replied icily.

“Come, we are leaving,” Jace said firmly, drawing Alec close to his side.

The Warlock had made the portal on the podium, right next to them and without another glance at Imogen Jace stepped through followed by Izzy. The portal closed behind them and they saw they were in the elegant hallway outside of Magnus’ loft.

“Ok, is there a key or…” Izzy asked, going towards the door cautiously as this was after all a Warlock’s place of residence.

“My right pocket,” Jace told her, nodding towards it, still holding Alec, one of Alec’s arms were dragged around his neck and he was holding around his waist with the other, being as mindful of the wounds still on his back as he could. Away from Idris and Imogen Alec had given up even pretending he wasn’t exhausted and still in pain, frowned and sweaty and he had had to let Jace take almost his full weight again.

“Got it,” Izzy proclaimed as she found the key in Jace’s pants.

“Unlock the door and open it but let me walk through first. Magnus said you could enter if you were with Alec or me but otherwise the wards keep everyone out,” Jace explained, nodding towards the door.

“Ok,” Izzy agreed as she did as asked before stepping aside.

“Close the door,” Jace ordered Izzy as soon as he was through the door with Alec.

Jace went to the nearest bedroom, which happened to be Magnus’ master bedroom and gently put Alec down on the bed on his stomach. He looked half unconscious but was still moaning slightly in pain.

“I will draw the sleep rune and then some more iratze,” Izzy said as she sat on the other side of the bed and crawled in so she was sitting next to Alec in the bed.

Izzy drew the sleep rune first and Alec’s eyes fluttered shut and his face fell into peaceful lines, the signs of agony and pain gone. She started to draw iratzes near his wrists and his skin instantly healed fully before adding two more on his back to ensure the whip marks would be fully healed.

“I won’t deactivate the sleeping rune just yet. Let’s give him a few hours,” Jace concluded when Izzy was satisfied her brother was pain free and had no more wounds.

Izzy nodded as she crawled out of the bed again.

“Ok,” she agreed, looking down at Alec worriedly. She reached over and put a blanket over him before she affectionately stroked some hair out of his eyes before straightening up again.

“I’m having a whiskey. Want one?” Jace proclaimed as he went to the living room, feeling the strain of the day washing over him in waves and he ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

“Does Magnus have brandy?” Izzy asked hopefully as she followed him into the living room.

“I think he has any alcohol known to man,” Jace reassured her and looked at the bottles on the liquor trolley, finding the brandy and poured a glass.

“Thanks,” Izzy said when he handed it to her.

Izzy went to sit on the nearby sofa while Jace pored himself a whiskey.

“What shall we do about this mess then?” Jace asked as he sat on the sofa next to Izzy before taking a sip of his drink.

“Well, we won’t allow Alec to do this any longer, taking on our punishments,” Izzy said firmly, determined.

“I agree but I looked into it more; the right of the eldest is, surprise, only applicable to the oldest child and Alec is the oldest,” Jace said darkly, drinking some more of his whiskey.

“Well, we will just stop him from enforcing it,” Izzy insisted.

“How? We lock him up?” Jace asked helplessly.

“Ok, bad idea,” Izzy admitted, knowing how self-sacrificing Alec was. In frustration and anger she then looked accusingly at him and demanded, “Well, you come up with something then!”

Just then a portal opened and Magnus stepped through and into the living room. He had a triumphant look on his face but just as Izzy and Jace started to smile their smiles turned to worry when they saw he was holding a hand to his right side and there was blood on the hand; he was clearly covering a wound. He looked pained and drained.

“Magnus! You’re…hurt,” Izzy proclaimed worried as she jumped to her feet, putting a drink on the table and went to his side, helping him over to the sofa.

Jace rose as well and looked on anxiously, unsure how to help.

“It’s nothing,” Magnus insisted but his voice betrayed how tired and hurt he was.

When he sat on the sofa, he winced slightly in pain but then waved a necklace triumphantly at Jace and Izzy.

“I got it!” Magnus said satisfied.

“Is that….” Jace asked in a shaking voice, looking at the necklace intensely. He didn’t have anything from his real parents; it was amazing to see something now.

Magnus nodded proudly, “Your family’s necklace. I got it away from Valentine. No small accomplishment I might add.”

“How?” Izzy asked intrigued as she sat down next to Magnus and tried to look at his wound.

Izzy got up and went to get some towels and pressed one of them against Magnus’ wound, giving him an empathic and apologetic look when the force of it made Magnus wince in pain.

“It came to my attention that a Warlock was breaking our laws and producing warlock babies against the will of Mundane women. I had the operation shut down and the responsible party locked for eternity in the Spiral Labyrinth. However, one of the Warlock kids had quite amazing tracking abilities and was able to break through the wards and protections Valentine had around him,” Magnus explained, taking a deep breath to try and work through his pain and exhaustion.

“So you know where he is? We can attack him now, end this once and for all,” Jace said grimly.

“Way ahead of you. The Downworld took care of it,” Magnus said with a hint of pride and satisfaction at this.

“Really?” Izzy asked, impressed.

“Despite what Nephilim think we don’t need your kind to save us,” Magnus reminded the Nephilim.

“They all came? Even the Seelies? The Queen would surely not care,” Izzy asked, frowning.

Magnus shook his head, “She didn’t. They had a change of leadership.”

“The Seelie Queen is dead?” Jace asked surprised but happy; everyone could only be better off for that.

Magnus nodded smugly at this news, “Yes”

“Who is the new King or Queen then?” Jace wanted to know.

Magnus gave Izzy a warm look as he replied, “You should know him, Isabelle. It is Meliorn.”

“Oh, yes. I know him,” Izzy said with a fond look in her eyes.

“So…. Valentine is dead?” Jace asked to be sure. It felt almost surreal.

Magnus nodded grimly, “Yes. He can’t hurt you or anyone else anymore.”

“You killed him for me?!” Jace asked surprised and dumbstruck; no one protected him. Well, except Alec.

Magnus smiled warmly at him as he explained, “I **also** killed him for you, for him keeping you from your family. I killed him for the Downworld, for us all. But.”

Jace smiled at that and said heartfelt, “Thank you.”

Magnus nodded satisfied and handed Jace the necklace who took it with trembling hands.

“So, now that we have that taken care of….Where’s Alexander?” Magnus asked eagerly, surprised he wasn’t here.

“Sleeping in your bedroom,” Izzy told him, taking the cloth away to look at Magnus’ wound and winching when she saw it was still bleeding and then pressed the cloth against it again.

“Sleeping? He didn’t hear me enter?” Magnus asked surprised as he rose in concern and worry.

“Sleeping rune,” Jace said grimly.

“Magnus, Alec is ok. Sit down before you fall down. Let me look at your wound…and any other wounds you might be hiding,” Izzy insisted.

Magnus hesitated but he could see Jace and Izzy were serious; Alec was safe. Reluctantly Magnus sat back down on the sofa.

“Fine, fine,” Magnus mumbled, looking anxiously towards his bedroom.

“You can’t heal?” Izzy concluded as surely he would have done so if he could.

Magnus shook his head.

“Too drained to use magic right now,” Magnus admitted.

“What do you need to recharge? You can take energy from me,” Jace offered, giving Magnus a serious look, remembering when Magnus had taken energy from Alec to heal Luke.

“It’s ok. I can wait,” Magnus insisted.

“I really don’t think you can. You should recharge,” Jace insisted, moving to stand next to him and reaching down a hand to him.

“Why?” Magnus asked suspiciously.

“So we are better protected,” Jace said frankly.

Magnus looked worried from Izzy to Jace, seeing their dark looks, the pain behind the darkness.

“What is going on here?” Magnus asked, worried and suspiciously.

“Magnus, don’t do anything rash now,” Izzy pleaded.

“What happened?!” Magnus all but screamed in frustration.

“Magnus, stay calm,” Izzy demanded, trying for a calming tone which just frustrated Magnus more.

Suddenly it clicked for him and Magnus quickly rose, a look of hurt and terror on his face.

“They did it, didn’t they?” Magnus mumbled horrified.

“Magnus!” Izzy and Jace yelled after him as Magnus ran into the bedroom and saw Alec lying on his bed.

“By Lilith!” Magnus swore under his breath as he sat on the bedside next to Alec, looking down at him tenderly with sympathy and pain in his eyes.

“He’s ok now,” Izzy assured him, staying in the doorway with Jace to give him a moment.

“He looks so young, so vulnerable,” Magnus whispered softly as he stroked his cheek before he bent down and tenderly kissed Alec’s forehead.

“Yeah…he really does,” Jace agreed softly, pained.

Magnus rose from the bed and all tenderness was gone, his cat eyes on display as he purposefully walked back into the living room, forgetting his pain from his injury for a moment as he went and poured himself a whiskey.

“I will burn them all for this!” Magnus declared darkly.

“Recharge,” Jace simply offered again, offering his hand in shared commitment to doing just that.

Magnus nodded grimly and took the offered hand, his whiskey still in the other. In his anger he pulled at Jace’s angelic power quickly, forcing Jace on one knee before him, gasping a bit at the onslaught of power and the resulting weakness in his body. Magnus released his hand when his wound was fully healed, after only a few seconds, and Jace swayed for a moment before his eyes lit up golden and he rose to his feet, fully restored again. He hadn’t thought about how Alec would have been weakened offering his energy to Magnus nor the amount of trust that would have implied but he had some indications now for only his pure angel blood ensured he was not severely weakened after this.

“Thank you,” Magnus said, his cat eyes still on display, his tone still dark.

Jace nodded and went to pick up his own whiskey from the table by the sofa where he had left it. He returned to stand next to Magnus by the drinks trolley.

“I understand but we need to be smart about this,” Izzy insisted grimly as she went to pick up her brandy and walk over to the two men. As she did so, Magnus did a hand wave and cleaned up his clothes and the cloths Izzy had picked up earlier.

“What do you mean?” Magnus asked cautiously.

“I am cool with the burning them all part if anyone is asking me,” Jace said darkly.

“If you burn Idris you burn everything; the good and the bad,” Izzy warned.

“Isabelle dear, I doubt there are many good,” Magnus said matter of fact.

“I agree but there are some,” Izzy insisted.

“I am not a murderer,” Magnus insisted but then reflected and said matter of fact, “Most of the time. What do you have in mind?”

“Do you have proof you killed Valentine?” Jace asked.

“Oh, yes. I portalled his head into the High Inquisitor’s office in Idris,” Magnus said with dark amusement.

Izzy and Jace smiled at hearing that.

“Good. Now, send her Jace’s necklace too and tell her we want to set up a meeting,” Izzy thought aloud, showing she was every bit Alec’s sister.

Magnus did a hand wave and the necklace disappeared only to appear on Imogen’s’ desk in her office in Idris.

“A meeting?” Magnus asked, thinking he knew what she meant but wanting to be sure.

Izzy nodded and said with a devious smile, “Yes. Between the Downworld leader and the Idris leadership.”

“But there is no such individual,” Jace protested.

Magnus started to smile evilly, knowing where Izzy was going with this.

“Jace dear…there is now!” Magnus said smugly.

Izzy grinned, “Precisely.”

Jace caught on and nodded approval of the plan; Magnus as leader of the Downworld. He could get behind that. Actually, he could get behind almost anything if it meant he could avenge Alec.

“You two stay here at the loft where it is safe,” Magnus ordered and Jace and Izzy nodded agreement, neither of them having any desire to return to the Institute before this mess was resolved.

Magnus did a wave of his hand before he said with a satisfied tone, “There, I conjured up an extra bedroom for you Isabelle, as Jace already has his room here.”

“Like we would leave Alec for a second after this?!” Izzy proclaimed with a satisfied smile at hearing they were all staying at the loft and Jace nodded his agreement though he wasn’t even considering leaving.

Magnus grinned darkly and went to sit on the sofa, patting the spot next to him.

“Now, my dears, let’s go plan our revenge on Idris while we wait for my darling Alexander to wake up,” Magnus said in a dangerous tone, his Warlock Mark still visible in his anger and eagerness for revenge.

“What are we doing precisely?” Jace asked confused as he sat down on one side of Magnus, Izzy on the other.

“Why, golden boy…we will be writing a list of demands to Idris from the Downworld. We are **done** being ruled by the Nephilim and we are **done** accepting being treated as second-class citizens! Idris has been able to rule only through the division of the Downworld. We stay united now and united we will win!” Magnus proclaimed seriously.

“That sounds great and all but how does that help Alec?” Jace asked, frowning.

“Because, my dear…among our demands will be changes to the way Idris runs their armies and their whole penal system, up to and including the abolition of the whole ‘burning prisoners to death’ and corporal punishments like what they did to Alexander. After Idris has killed or de-runed **all** former Circle members. Including the Lightwoods,” Magnus warned, looking from Jace to Izzy to see if they had any issues with their parents being punished.

“I am on board with that,” Jace said darkly; all his regard for the Lightwoods had gone out the window when he had realized that the price for their admiration and love had been Alec’s blood.

“Me too. Screw them! They did this to Alec; I have no sympathy for them any longer. Death or de-runed; whatever fits their past crimes is fine with me,” Izzy said darkly, her voice certain and her gaze unyielding.

Magnus certainly saw aspects of Maryse’s strength and unyielding power in the girl and was glad she was on his side.

“Good, good,” Magnus said with a dark smile. “Let’s go plan then. Revenge is after all a dish best served cold. Stone cold.”

Magnus would make sure no one hurt **his** Alexander ever again! This stopped now and it stopped for good!

_The end – continues in part 7_

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and feedback means the world to me, in particular in these times. I try and post every two days or so, with new SH material, to entertain you all so if you are enjoying my efforts then a little note back would be so much loved :)
> 
> Thank you and take care of each other out there.


End file.
